Twitter Realtors Questions

October 29th, 2009 | Business, Events, How-To, Social Networking

teaching twitter to real estate agents realty tweetdeck

Realtors use Twitter. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Real Estate Agents are voracious consumers of new communications technology. Proving that out, several agents turned out for Twitter training given by Karen Goodman (Arch City Homes blogger and premier realtor), and me. The class was offered by Keller Williams Realty.

Agents were aware of Twitter and it being a social network. A few of the real estate agents were already members, as well as being Facebook members. Universally though, they were using only the basic web sites and none was using Twitter on a regular basis.

Training took Twitter from the ‘what is it’ level up to installing Tweetdeck on personal computers. The questions focused primarily on privacy and distribution. People were worried about being spammed and spamming others.

installing tweetdeck for a real estate agent

Here’s a few of the questions and how Karen and I chose to answer them.

If someone starts following me do I start seeing their posts?
- No. It does mean they’ll begin seeing of your Twitter messages
Do my Twitter messages also post on Facebook and LinkedIn?
- Not automatically. There are add-ons and tools that allow cross-posting; those are all optional and can be controlled.
Someone I’m following starts spamming, talking about porn, etc. What can I do?
- Unfollow them. Visit their Twitter profile page and unfollow them.
- They don’t stop copying you? Visit their Twitter profile page and block them.
How do I find people I know?
- Using Find People on the Twitter home page.
- Email or call that person. Most reliable choice. Avoid’s picking someone else with the same name.
- Check that person’s web site for Twitter and other social network information.
How do avoid being sucked into too much Twitter use?
- Time control – only open Twitter at regularly scheduled times. Much like you’d handle email inbox review.
- Browsing control – unless you have plenty of time, only check your replies and direct messages.

These may seem like basics to many of you, but these are questions anyone in business should be asking. Approaching Twitter and other social networks with a plan, even if it’s a ‘don’t do this’ plan is better than winging it as a business user.

We also discussed what’s appropriate in terms of content. Realtors online seem to line up on two sides; those that broadcast listings, and those that never talk shop. Karen explained how becoming a local area expert is more valuable than spewing out listings. Expertise shared equates to trust building and from there to clients.

Attendees were quite involved, asking good questions, and wanting to understand how Twitter connects, and how it could be used. A great follow up class would be on mixing up social networking to find what works best for each individual.

If you’d like to have a Twitter class at your work, please contact me – todd at toddrjordan.com, @tojosan on Twitter, or by phone (636) 486-4723.

Realtor shout out to attendees from Keller Williams Realty: